Overplayed

black_wizard | 12 May, 2005 14:13

You’ve had a rough day. The heat is unbearable. Your bike is being a bitch like your ex, your mom is pissed at you for no apparent reason and your dad is in town, closely monitoring and analyzing each and every move you make. Not good. Not good at all. So what is it that you do to get your mind off all this? Simple. You slip in you favourite assorted songs CD. Jazz, blues, metal, virtuoso stuff… you name it and its on the disk. Here is The Black Wizard’s playlist… overplayed list rather…

We start off with the mellow stuff first and at number 10 is:

Manhattan- Eric Johnson. Composer and guitarist beyond par. Finger picking has been EJ’s unique style with his tendencies of drifting into jazzy tunes with a very ‘soothing’ bluesy sound. Manhattan is one such example of Eric Johnson’s composing abilities.
I know I know… All you pseudo rockers who are wondering why the only EJ song you’ve heard, Cliffs Of Dover, isn’t on the playlist can go screw yourself. I know Cliffs of Dover is another example of EJ’s brilliance but its not on my playlist so sod off.

Onward to track 9:

Perpetual Burn- Becker is GOD. Period. No questions asked. Marty Friedman's friend and the the other half of the Becker-Friedman tag team in the aptly named band- Cacophony. One listen to the song and you're like, “What the fuck? Is that even possible? Does he have ten fingers on each hand?” Monster arpeggios with psycho half bends and other weird technical stuff I don’t know jack shit about. Killer speed and melody can be a deadly combo. A perfect example of psycho guitar playing.

Track 8…:

For The Love Of God: The name Vai is synonymous with what I like to call ‘Madar chodd guitarist’. Everybody knows Steve Vai. So I’m going to leave all the ‘praise be to Vai’ to the readers.

And now we have a change in genre… hard rock… and in 7th place is:

Sailing Ships: Whitesnake has boasted of one of the strongest band lineups and musicians. Vai, Lord, Sykes and Cozy Powell to name a few. David Coverdale is my one of my favourite singers. Let me rephrase- I’m a Coverdale fanatic. Good lyrics and a great solo make this song a great listen.

Number 6(66)… dayumm… I just love cheap thrills… ahem… sorry:

Sothis: Death fucking metal! And the name synonymous with awesome death metal is Vader. European. Polish. GAWD!!! The Intro is one of the best I’ve heard. The ritual starts from here. Heads bang, necks snap and dandruff flies in the air. With a killer shout-growl, crazy blast beats and very (un)pleasing trem work Vader is arguably one of the best in the business of moshing and making metal heads mosh.

Number 5:

Rapture: “Confront me unholy ones…bastard saints scorn of the earth…I summon thee now poison me…Death under will burn in my soul” growls Dave Vincent.
One of my favourite Angel songs with the high Priest of DM, Trey Azagthoth’s(don't you dare start with the pronunciation of the his last name!) signature weird solos and Sandoval's insane drumming and Vincent's satanic barking. Vincent later quit to join his wife's porn metal band called Genitorturers(WTF???) and later came out with the Evil D signature bass guitars. Why did I mention this? General knowledge you fucking pseudo bum!

Onward to number 4:

Defenestration: It takes a little time for you to register what hit you. Then the feeling sinks in. A Sonic Boom. There is a fine line between brilliance and sheer madness. Don’t know on which side to place Mounier and the boys from Cryptopsy. A death metal love song. The guy loves her so much that he wants to smash her through a glass window. Talk about violent passion, something which a few of us can relate to. Lord’s Worm’s growls are deep and totally indecipherable. Mounier’s drumming is… well… unbelievable as usual. And that’s an understatement.

Number 3:

Unas The Slayer Of Gods: Nile!!! Armed with an attack of three growlers and the one and only Tony Laureano on drums. The insane Sanders and Toler-Wade tag team is probaby the best in the DM scene today. One has to listen to believe. These guys push metal to the limit. Drawing inspiration form Ancient Egypt, which is pretty obvious since they call themselves Nile, the band is as brutal as brutal death metal can get

TWO:

Deliverance: An another extreme(in a different sense) death metal band. Probably the Dream Theater of DM. Hence the genre 'progressive death metal'. Mikel Akerfeld’s compositions have very different shiftings from clean to distortion and clean vocals to a very killer death growl. Off time drumming… awesome guitar solos… and a gripping and prolonged(in a positive sense) outro.

Note to the pseudo rocker: Solos aren’t all about speed, biyatch!!!

And Finally, Numero Uno!:
I am The Black Wizards: A note to the pseudo rocker before i begin: Shut up you fucking whore… its not a typo… there is an ‘s’ in ‘Wizards’… ahem… cheap thrills… I know… Ah… what can be said about Ihsahn and Emperor, The pioneer black metal band from Norway. Here is a very popular equation... not very mathematical though-European bands=Great Music. This song is more like an anthem with Ihsahn’s piercing shrieks, lovely guitar work… melody melody melody… yep… its all there. Watch the Live Emperial Ceremony to see what I'm talking about.

Songs which almost made it to the list:

1.Demon of the fall- Opeth
2.She is the dark- My dying Bride
3.Bleak- Opeth. I tried to control myself but I guess I've succumbed to the pressure of being an ardent fan and a staunch believer of the 'institution' known as Opeth. Bleak... words fail me. Steve Wilson from Porcupine Tree is featured on this track contributing guitar and vocals. Damn trippy guitar solo... over nine minutes of melodic madness. But hey, isnt that what Opeth all is about?
4. As above so below- Behemoth
5. Black Seeds On Virgin Soil- Old Man's Child

Note to the pseudo rocker: Bands like Cynic, Athiest, Fates Warning,Incantation,Cannibal Corpse,Arch nemy,Carcass,Suffocation,Death,Slayer,Testament, and the likes have been deliberatelty left out because they aren’t for random listening. Bands of such high stature demand respect, the listener's undivided attention and are ‘full album listening material’. Well, that’s ifff you’ve heard of these bands.

Merry Moshing!